Table of contents

Military selection (Yves A. DeVriendt)

Abstract

Instruments applied in military selection are very similar to the ones used in civilian selection. The main difference lies in the final goal of the military selection procedure, which is the detection of candidates with competencies that allow operating in armed forces missions. Defence Forces apply selection procedures for three personnel categories: soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers. One option is to test all three categories with the same uniform procedure; another option is to test each category with an appropriate, different procedure. Several large scale Computer-Based testing procedures are used for cognitive, personality, social and motivational assessment of the candidates. To conclude, lessons learned in military selection so far point out that military selection procedures have to be continuously rethought in the light of the ever changing environment and type of military missions.

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Reference list

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Questions/Items for classroom discussion

1 a Give an overview of the typical stages that form the assessment of candidates for military officer positions.

1 b Compare the assessment for officer candidates with the assessment instruments and procedures used for all personnel categories in the military as described in the text. What are the differences and which similarities can you identify?

1 c Is it useful to organise different assessment procedures for officer candidates and non-officer candidates? Explain why you do or do not agree with this statement.

2 a Explain the assessment cycle of non-commissioned officer (NCO) candidates during military selection 2 b Compare the NCO-candidates’ assessment with the assessment instruments and procedures used for all personnel categories in the military. What are the differences and which similarities can you identify?

2 c Is it useful to organise different assessment procedures for NCO-candidates and soldier candidates? Explain why you do or do not agree with this statement.

3 Name two reasons why group observational exercises can be useful for military selection. Provide five examples of group exercises used in military selection.

4 a Describe the three military selection policies.

4 b In which aspects do they differ from each other?

5 a Sum up the three types of selection used for all the military personnel categories.

5 b Who are responsible for each type of selection? 5 c Give examples of the instruments used during each type of selection and describe these instruments.

6 a What is a test battery?

6 b A military selection responsible in an interview once said:”It is important for our Air Force to have a specialised test battery for pilot selection”. Do you agree with this statement? Explain why you do or do not agree.

6 c Give an example of a test battery for pilot selection. Explain the different steps that need to be taken in the test battery. Can you think of any changes or improvements to this? Discuss these changes or improvements in a group.

6 d Compare the instruments for pilot selection, discussed in the reading, with the instruments used for selection of non pilots. What are the differences? What are the similarities?

7 Which differences can you identify between the traditional military key competencies and the competencies needed for Humanitarian Operations? You are appointed as the co-ordinator of a selection team that is responsible for the selection of military candidates for the next Modern Military Mission, a Peacekeeping Operation abroad. You need to select officers, non-commissioned officers (NCO) and soldiers. The mission includes operations on the ground and operations in the air. There are no financial and no practical constraints with regard to the selection procedure.

8 a Compose a test battery or several test batteries to select the candidates. - Think about possible selection goals or objectives, selection criteria and selection instruments. - Think about the number and kind of people that you need in your selection team. Background documentation that you can use for this exercise is:

• The current reading on “Military selection”
• Reading on “Computer-Based Testing”
• Suggested literature: Arndt, K. (2000). Selection on Management Personnel for the State Border Service for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Proceedings of the 36th International Applied Military Psychology Symposium, Split, Croatia, 14-15 September 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2005, from http://www.morh.hr/iamps/E_index.htm

8 b Discuss your proposition in a group.

Biographical statement

Yves Devriendt is a psychologist who graduated from Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a teaching certificate from Ghent University and a master’s degree in “ Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences” from the Brussels Catholic University. In his career with the Belgian Department of Defence as a military psychologist, he has twelve years of experience as an interviewer, assessor and trainer within a military context. Since 1996 he has been working as a researcher and test developer for the Belgian Department of Defence. Recently he worked on projects about automated test batteries, cognitive tests, selection procedures and retention. He publishes and speaks on topics such as computer-based testing, test batteries, test validation, military selection, retention and the position of the psychologist in society.

Address correspondence to:

Y.A. Devriendt, Lic Psy, MSc Quantitative Analysis
Belgian Department of Defence
Directorate General of Human Resources
Accession Policy – Research & Development
Kwartier Koningin Astrid
Bruynstraat 1
1120 Brussels (Neder–over–Heembeek)
BELGIUM
Email: yves.devriendt@mil.be